ULEZ - Ultra low emission zones for central and inner London

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I've used the ULEZ checker and my 51 plate 307 diesel doesn't meet the new ULEZ standard so I'll have to pay the new charge. Might have to pay the congestion charge as well which would mean £24 a pop. Fortunately, I hardly ever drive into central London. However, once they extend to the north circular it'll affect me more.

Something I'm not quite clear on is the other thing happening 26th October 2020 where they're changing the standard emissions to the ultra low emissions. It says

A change from LEZ standards
If you drive a lorry, van, bus, minibus or other specialist vehicle and it currently meets the Low Emission Zone emissions standards, it may not meet the new ULEZ standards. Check if your vehicle meets the ULEZ standards using our ULEZ vehicle checker.

From 26 October 2020 the emission standards for LEZ will change to match the ULEZ standards.

And here is a pdf showing details. http://content.tfl.gov.uk/lez-ulez-comparison-table.pdf

Will the emissions standards changing from LEZ to ULEZ after October next year affect passing MOT's, or only be applicable when driving into ULEZ zones? And it looks like it's not referring to cars, just buses and lorries? I'm just wondering if I'll be forced to finally get rid of my car if it won't pass MOTs. Currently, it passes just the standard low emission test.

The LEZ has nothing to do with the MOT process.

The LEZ is the current zone in place which determines if buses, lorries etc have to pay to enter the zone or not based on the emissions standard. The ULEZ has a stricter set of emissions standards hence the LEZ turning into the ULEZ for buses, lorries etc in 2020.
 
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I don't disagree that a lot of old cars need to be taken off road, mostly all the horrible diesels, but the policy will punish a lot of people who might for example not be able to afford newer cars, prefer old cars, have attachment to an old car etc, people who dont do many miles and dont contribute much to the pollution output.

Whilst I agree with you on the ‘classic’ car side of things, checking auto trader suggests you can pick up a petrol car which meets the ULEZ standard for under £1500.00. If someone is unable to afford £1500.00 I would argue that they probably can’t afford to run a car regardless of the ULEZ being implemented or not, so are probably walking, cycling or using public transport already. If they are walking or cycling already the implementation of the ULEZ should be a good thing as it might reduce the pollution they are breathing in on said walks or cycles.
 
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Whilst I agree with you on the ‘classic’ car side of things, checking auto trader suggests you can pick up a petrol car which meets the ULEZ standard for under £1500.00. If someone is unable to afford £1500.00 I would argue that they probably can’t afford to run a car regardless of the ULEZ being implemented or not, so are probably walking, cycling or using public transport already. If they are walking or cycling already the implementation of the ULEZ should be a good thing as it might reduce the pollution they are breathing in on said walks or cycles.

Would depend on the car, someone might have a large family and run an MPV, buying a newer one that is a good example, similar spec etc may cost a fair bit. Also a bit like buying a house, the person might just about be able to afford running it, where costs are spread across the year, but like a deposit, not be able to afford spending a large amount of money in one go (I know there is finance etc, but not always feasible for everyone).
 
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Some examples of motors that we just went through :D

996 Turbo - ULEZ exempt
Galaxy Zetec Turbo - ULEZ exempt
BMW 525i sport auto - ULEZ exempt
BMW E46 M3 - ULEZ exempt
Fiesta Zetec 96 - ULEZ exempt

BMW E30 325i Cab - subject to ULEZ
MKIV SupraTT - subject to ULEZ
Toyota 4Runner 3.0D - subject to ULEZ
Lexus LS430 - subject to ULEZ
Toureg 3.0 TDI - subject to ULEZ
Peugeot 3008 1.6 E-HDI - subject to ULEZ
 
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As an aside, While reading this article about the "Yellow Vests"

https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/01/11/the-gilets-jaunes-are-unstoppable/

And this paragraph stood out...

The big cities today are like medieval citadels. It is like we are going back to the city-states of the Middle Ages. Funnily enough, Paris is going to start charging people for entry, just like the excise duties you used to have to pay to enter a town in the Middle Ages.

LEZ/ULEZ is a way of stopping poor people from driving in the city. The air quality thing is a red herring.

Air quality has never been better and continues to improve year-on-year.

It is acknowledged that introducing the LEZ, while disadvantaging many tens of thousands of poorer people and small businesses, resulted in no noticeable "Blip" in the rate at which air quality improved.

I expect that the introduction of the ULEZ will also produce no detectable effect other than to exclude even more poor people from city centers.

Hey-Ho, get rid of all the poor people from city centres and you get more old housing estates to gentrify and all the more metro-elite to enjoy their self righteous city centre life CW Breakfast cereal coffee bars and craft beer pubs while the Poor are excluded from both wealth and employment and can only look in from outside.

Perhaps we are due a bit of "Yellow Vesting" here!

:(
 
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I'm not sure I agree with the LEZ bit, as it wasn't much of a broad scheme to have an effect, but do agree with the sentiment and observation there.

Also goes to show how ridiculous the system is when old M3's and 911's are exempt. They just chose an arbitrary condition to tick boxes, probably to some lobby.
 
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I'm not sure I agree with the LEZ bit, as it wasn't much of a broad scheme to have an effect, but do agree with the sentiment and observation there.

Also goes to show how ridiculous the system is when old M3's and 911's are exempt. They just chose an arbitrary condition to tick boxes, probably to some lobby.

Pretty much all petrol cars are exempt. Euro 4 standard is very old now.

I'm not sure why you think this is trying to exempt M3s and 911s.

If they had been diesels then they would have fallen foul.

Loads of sub £2K petrol cars are exempt.

Some examples of motors that we just went through :D

996 Turbo - ULEZ exempt
Galaxy Zetec Turbo - ULEZ exempt
BMW 525i sport auto - ULEZ exempt
BMW E46 M3 - ULEZ exempt
Fiesta Zetec 96 - ULEZ exempt

BMW E30 325i Cab - subject to ULEZ
MKIV SupraTT - subject to ULEZ
Toyota 4Runner 3.0D - subject to ULEZ
Lexus LS430 - subject to ULEZ
Toureg 3.0 TDI - subject to ULEZ
Peugeot 3008 1.6 E-HDI - subject to ULEZ

So diesels (pre Euro 6) and very old petrols (pre Euro 4) fall foul. Exactly as intended.
 

gEd

gEd

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VOLVO V70 SE T5 GEARTRONIC (03 plate) fails to meet ULEZ requirements (254g/Km CO2...)

I will likely only drive into the ULEZ now and again so will hang onto the car and just pay up as and when required to do so (It's a lot cheaper than my buying a new motor). It might hurt me more when the zone is extended in 2021 as I will have to pay the charge simply to do a run to the tip!
Assuming the car lasts another 2 years of course....
It also means that my car is now worth 50p
 
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I'm not sure I agree with the LEZ bit, as it wasn't much of a broad scheme to have an effect, but do agree with the sentiment and observation there.

Also goes to show how ridiculous the system is when old M3's and 911's are exempt. They just chose an arbitrary condition to tick boxes, probably to some lobby.

They could be anomalies. Euro4 came into force in 2005 iirc, and the e46 M3 model spanned 2001-2006 which meant that car was revised for 2005 to meet the new standards.

The pre-2005 ones were Euro3, and later modes were Euro4.
 
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They could be anomalies. Euro4 came into force in 2005 iirc, and the e46 M3 model spanned 2001-2006 which meant that car was revised for 2005 to meet the new standards.

The pre-2005 ones were Euro3, and later modes were Euro4.

Manufacturers also made cars Euro 4 compliant long before it was compulsory. It didn't just happen overnight, so the range could be even larger.
 
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Would depend on the car, someone might have a large family and run an MPV, buying a newer one that is a good example, similar spec etc may cost a fair bit. Also a bit like buying a house, the person might just about be able to afford running it, where costs are spread across the year, but like a deposit, not be able to afford spending a large amount of money in one go (I know there is finance etc, but not always feasible for everyone).

Not sure what you point is here. If by large family you are suggesting the need for 7 seats then you can still buy one for around £1500 which would meet the ULEZ requirement.

If you are suggesting that a newer vehicle would be better then it would automatically meet the ULEZ requirement unless you are one of those individuals that buys a diesel whilst doing 2000 miles a year when a petrol would be the better option.
 
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Not sure what you point is here. If by large family you are suggesting the need for 7 seats then you can still buy one for around £1500 which would meet the ULEZ requirement.

If you are suggesting that a newer vehicle would be better then it would automatically meet the ULEZ requirement unless you are one of those individuals that buys a diesel whilst doing 2000 miles a year when a petrol would be the better option.

I'm talking about costs. It's easy for someone with lots of money to say buy or do x,y, z.

In theory you can buy an MPV that meets ULEZ for £1500, in reality it is not as simple. Not only will you be limited in choice, particularly as there is little petrol examples out there, £1500 might not get you a good example or something suitable.
 
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First I've heard of this! I live within the A406 boundary and drive a R53 Cooper S, need to check what emissions it chucks out and whether there is some kind of discount for those living within the zone like there is for the central congestion charge!
 
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First I've heard of this! I live within the A406 boundary and drive a R53 Cooper S, need to check what emissions it chucks out and whether there is some kind of discount for those living within the zone like there is for the central congestion charge!

There is a car reg checker in the first post of this thread. If you live within the zone with a car that doen't meet the emission standards, you will still get "charged" for every day you use the car, but in the first two years of the ULEZ operating you get a 100 percent discount/rebate. After April 2021, you will get hit with the full ULEZ charge in addition to any other charges (such as the congestion zone charge).
 
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I think there is also a pot of money which they are also going to use to support people who need to change their car but they haven't announced how that will work yet. Likely some kind of scrap scheme.
 
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I'm talking about costs. It's easy for someone with lots of money to say buy or do x,y, z.

In theory you can buy an MPV that meets ULEZ for £1500, in reality it is not as simple. Not only will you be limited in choice, particularly as there is little petrol examples out there, £1500 might not get you a good example or something suitable.

A simple filtered search on autotrader suggests there are over 233,000 petrol engine cars that meet the Euro 4 standard or above, so there is plenty of choice out there covering the very cheap to the very expensive.

What you are describing is a scenario where to meet the criteria this individual:

Does not already have a vehicle that meets the ULEZ requirements.

Is regularly making journeys which require more than 5 seats.

Is so financially restricted that they can’t afford to change their vehicle even though there are currently cars for sale for £1500 which meet the ULEZ standard (one would assume that they already have a car which they could sell to make some of the money back) yet some how have enough money to tax, insure, fuel and maintain a car and not take the option of public transport instead.

Would retrict their options on what car they buy because they are ‘fussy’ on the type of car they drive even though personally I’ve never met a fussy car buyer at the banger end of the market.

Be living in or regularly entering the ULEZ zone (if it was the occasional journey into the zone it would be cheaper just to keep your non compliant car and pay the fee).

Have no access to credit to purchase a car. Even if it was just a slightly more expensive car paid for with a small loan.

Will have done nothing and not made any effort to save even a small amount of money in the run up of the ULEZ being launched.

You are probably describing a scenario where all of 10 people fit the criteria.
 
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